Note: The information below comes from my notes I took while attending the Tony Robbins’ Wealth Mastery event. I highly recommend this event to everyone. It’s outstanding! (The leaders and speakers at this event were Joe Williams, Chuck Mellon, and Keith Cunningham.)

Three of the most important principles regarding wealth, finances, and abundance are the following:

1. TITHING

2. THE LAW OF ATTRACTION

3. ASSET ALLOCATION

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1. The importance of TITHING:

This is a powerful little concept, which can transform and revolutionize your entire life. Tithing is based upon on a fixed spiritual law which is described in the Bible, as well as in other spiritual texts, and it results in a multiplied return of abundance and wealth that readily comes to the giver.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38 (NIV)

Tithing means contributing and giving a percentage of your income every year to those in need. This includes organizations such as charities and other non-profit social and environmental organizations, as well as churches, synagogues, the poor, the homeless, etc.

The most commonly recommended amount to tithe is at least 10% of your income, which can be spread out over the course of the year.

You will be absolutely amazed at how you’ll receive back so much more than you give, by committing to and following this principle regularly in your life.

The principle of “Giving to Get” works in many different realms in our lives, in addition to the financial realm. Keep in mind, however, that your focus and emphasis should NOT be on “getting”, but rather your focus and emphasis should be on “giving.”

Whatever it is in your life which you are in need of, or lacking, go out and find a way to give THAT SAME THING to others.

If you’re financially lacking, seek out ways to give and contribute to others who are worse off (e.g., homeless). Even if it’s just volunteering and giving of your time (e.g., serving food at a shelter or a food bank), that still counts.

Likewise, if you’re lonely and in need of friends or a relationship, seek someone out to whom YOU can be a good friend to, and keep your focus on THEM, and their needs.

If your problem is depression or another disempowering emotion, go out and find someone else who is in need of encouragement and provide it to them (e.g., perhaps visit a nursing home once or twice a month, etc).

If you do this, you’ll witness your own personal problems begin to diminish, and you’ll be rewarded, in abundance, with that which you’re willing to give away to others.

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2. THE LAW OF ATTRACTION (a.k.a., The Psychology of Wealth):

80% of financial success, as well as success in other areas of life, is based upon our PSYCHOLOGY and our MINDSET.

First of all, we must realize our true nature. In other words, “Know Thyself,” as the ancient Greeks taught.

In our “core being,” we originate from the “infinite” and the “limitless.” This is our spiritual essence…which is connected with the one Great Spirit, or God, who is infinite and unlimited.

All the world’s great spiritual teachings reveal this. The concepts of infinity and limitlessness…imply endless abundance.

By meditating on the knowledge that we embody an endless source of abundance, we naturally and easily begin to manifest this abundance in our outer lives.

You may have heard of the recent phenomenon and success of the book and the DVD called “The Secret”, which is based upon the concept called “the law of attraction.” This was first made popular by the author’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show several years ago.

The “law of attraction” is based upon the idea that ‘like attracts like.’ This has also been described as “like energy attracts like energy.”

One way this “law” applies, is that the inner emotional state, or feeling, which we consistently maintain over time, will eventually attract to us the equivalent experience in our outer world.

As an example, if we consistently maintain an inner state of ‘gratitude,’ eventually we will attract to us more and more things to be grateful for in our lives (such as wealth, abundance, great experiences, etc).

By regularly getting into and maintaining a Peak Emotional State, such as extreme joy or extreme gratitude, as well as by combining that with a crystal-clear visualization of your goals and outcomes (e.g., your dream home, your dream job, relationship, boat, car, etc)…this will GREATLY help you to manifest and attract into your life the outward abundance and success which you desire, based on this principle of the law of attraction. (Note: And if you’re not sure exactly what a “Peak Emotional State” is…just attend a Tony Robbins event sometime and you’ll find out!)

On the other hand, if we maintain an inner state of worry, fear, ‘sense of lack’ or anxiety… then we’ll attract to us more and more things to feel worry, fear, lack, and anxiety about (for example, scarcity of resources, financial problems, painful experiences, etc).

So, these principles of PSYCHOLOGY and MINDSET make up the “80%” of what it takes to be financially successful and abundant…

The remaining “20%” of what’s required for financial success and abundance consists of TAKING ACTION…based on simple, successful strategies.

Here’s where the important principle of focusing on “ordinary things, consistently done, day-in, and day-out” comes into play.

For example, in the area of finances, this consists of developing wise saving, investing, spending habits, and proper asset allocation (see the next section on this topic).

This principle applies in other areas of our lives as well.

In the realm of health and fitness, this consists of a daily commitment to selecting healthy foods and performing small, consistent amounts of regular exercise.

In the area of relationships, this consists of things such as regularly cultivating and connecting with our masculine or feminine cores, practicing conscientiousness, loving unconditionally, etc.

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3.The Importance of “ASSET ALLOCATION”

Asset Allocation is a financial principle that means dividing your assets (cash, savings, investments, etc) into three main virtual buckets (the analogy used is that of water buckets, which are lined up-one-underneath-the-other). The three buckets are named: the “Security Bucket,” the “Growth Bucket,” and the “Dream Capital Bucket.” Note: The “Growth Bucket” is divided into two halves: the “Buy and Hold” half and the “Momentum” half.

The recommended percentages or allocations of your money should be as follows, for these buckets:

Note: These allocation percentages suggested above will vary depending upon your age as well depend upon whether your more comfortable as a conservative investor or an aggressive investor. If you’re a more conservative investor, then your asset allocation percentages in buckets #1, #2 a, and #2 b, would be 40-30-30. Whereas, if you’re a more aggressive investor, then your asset allocation percentages would look more like 30-35-35. As you get older and begin nearing retirement age, you should begin to transfer more of your assets out of your Growth Bucket and into your Security Bucket.

Asset Allocation

Here is a detailed description of each of these buckets:

1. The “Security Bucket”: This is the first bucket that you should ensure gets filled, before you put money into any of the other buckets. (Paying off all of your debts is highly recommended before filling up any other bucket, as well.)

Your Security Bucket consists of liquid assets, such as cash, certificates of deposit (CDs), savings accounts, IRA’s, and other secure investments. (You should always keep at least 2 months’ worth of your usual monthly income in liquid assets, in the event that you suddenly or unexpectedly lose your main income source).

2. The “Growth Bucket”: This bucket is actually divided into two different parts. One-half is for your “Buy & Hold” investments and one-half is for your “Momentum” investments.

a. The “Buy and Hold” half of this bucket consists of long-term stocks and mutual funds.

One recommended resource for determining the best long-term stocks to invest in is something called the “America’s Finest Companies” report, which is published in July of each year by Bill Staton, of the Staton Institute. Each year, The Staton Institute tracks every publicly-traded U.S. company, about 19,000 in all. Only those companies with a record of paying higher dividends and/or earnings per share for at least 10 years make it onto the “America’s Finest Companies” listing. The website is: www.statoninstitute.com.

b. The “Momentum” half of this bucket consists of short-term trading in stocks and options.

Chuck Mellon is a trading expert who has produced many great materials which teach about successful short-term trading, and who speaks at Tony Robbins’ Wealth Mastery events. His website is www.chuckmellon.com. He’s definitely worth checking out!

3. The “Dream Capital Bucket”: The money you place in this bucket is any excess money that spills over after you’ve successfully filled all your other buckets, first.

Once the other buckets are sufficiently filled, then you may start filling up your “Dream Capital Bucket,” which is money that can be drawn upon periodically to splurge on luxury items, such as cars, boats, expensive clothes and jewelry, etc.

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METHOD FOR ELIMINATING DEBTS:

Here’s a powerful and effective technique for eliminating your debts, if you have any.

(By the way, I learned this from the well-known business and financial teacher, Keith Cunningham. You may have heard of the popular book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad,’ written by Robert Kiyosaki. Well, Keith Cunningham is actually the real-life “Rich Dad,” after whom this fictionalized character was based.)

First, sit down and make a list of all of your debts, and then list them by priority in the order in which you want to eliminate them (based on the degree of fees and interest charges).

You’ll want to pay off the ones with the highest fees and interest charges first.

Aside from your #1 priority debt that you want to eliminate, pay only the minimum monthly amounts on all your other debts.

In regards to your # 1 priority debt, pay the most amount of money each month as you possibly can on this debt, until it is completely eliminated.

Once this is done, then go on to your #2 debt, and then your #3 debt, etc.

I realize that this sounds like fairly basic advice, but you’ll find that you will develop a strong amount of momentum when you follow this method, exactly as described.

A way to get extra money each month to pay off your #1 priority debt, is to look for extra miscellaneous expenses that you can eliminate on a daily basis.

This includes things like eliminating regularly visits to Starbucks’ to buy your lattes, as well as eliminating routinely eating out for lunch or dinner, splurging on those little extras that we have a tendency to, etc.

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Here are five more very powerful financial and life principles, which I learned from Keith Cunningham.

These areTHE FIVE KEYS TO SUCCESS:

1. Make your life about ‘Doing what you love.’ HOWEVER, make ‘what you love’ the following: The small, simple, consistent actions that ’cause’ success.

In other words, avoid the thing that most people in the world do all of their lives: They focus mainly on the ‘results,’ or the ‘outcomes’ of success.

It’s easy for us to desire and want to possess things like luxurious material goods, beautiful surroundings, a trim healthy body, a satisfying relationship, success in business; etc….that’s what EVERYONE wants.

However…these things are all just the ‘results’ and ‘outcomes’ of successful actions.

Rather than being enamored with merely the ‘results’ and ‘outcomes’…instead, we must learn to become enamored and passionate about the small, daily consistent actions… which lead to these results and outcomes..!

These small, daily consistent actions include things like:

a. Regular, wise saving and investing habits;

b. Regular jogging; and eating our greens, etc;

c. Regular self-discipline and perseverance in our business and relationship strategies, etc.

2. Have a BUSINESS mindset, not a “job” mindset. This applies even if you’re an employee working for a company. Always think of what you do as “your own” business.

People with a “job” mentality (whether or not they are a business owner or they work for someone else), tend to focus on things like:

a. Passive Income

b. Effortless success

c. Leaving and Retirement

However, people with a “Business mentality,” instead focus on the following:

a. Growth

b. Continual improvement of their situations

c. Possibilities

d. “Leveraged Income” *

e. “Retiring to” * Explanation of these terms:

*“Leveraged income:” This is like “Passive Income.” However, it’s a term that’s preferred over the term “Passive Income,” since “Passive income” implies no involvement at all – which is dangerous and often leads eventually to disappointment and failure.“Leveraged Income” on the other hand, is an investment which entails lots of effort at first to get the momentum going, however it then just needs periodic involvement to keep the momentum sustained. (It’s kind of like starting and then sustaining the movement on one of those small playground merry-go-rounds, that’s loaded up with kids. It takes a lot of effort at first to get it going, but then once it’s going it only takes small, periodic pushes, to keep it continuing its movement.) Regularly ask yourself: How can I do More…with Less (e.g., effort, expense, etc)?

*On the concept of “retiring:” Successful people don’t look forward to someday “retiring from” work…but rather, they look forward to eventually “retiring to” something different, such as another business, or another form of contribution and growth, throughout their lives.

3. Be Optimistic!

This means things like: Seeing and envision what you want; Persevering and persisting; Taking Massive, Sustained Action; and having belief and faith, in yourself and in what you’re doing!

Faith leads to Clarity, Power, and Action/Achievement.

The mother of belief and faith is GRATITUDE!

Gratitude forces us to be present in the moment.

The converse of Gratitude is Fear. Fear only exists in the future…and it leads to things like: Chaos, Paralysis, and Atrophy.

Don’t tolerate fear!

4. Maintain a Willingness to Make Mistakes

Here’s a good motto to live by: “Anything worth doing…is worth doing POORLY, at first.”

Don’t let “trying to be perfect,” get in the way of doing what’s possible.

Whenever you’re stuck: Just take some action; any action. Just push ahead. Onwards!

5. Be “Willing to Pay the Price”

Be committed to Mastery, in your life and in your business; and be willing to “pay the price” for success.

Realize that everything has a price.

Don’t have the meager mindset of “Hey, I’m doing the best I can.”

Instead, have the mindset of “I am committed to doing whatever it takes” to achieve mastery in my line of work, and in the things that are important to me.

MASTERY – this is a product of consistently going beyond your limits!

Be willing to correct yourself, get mentoring, and be an apprentice.

And of course, never take any corrections or constructive criticism personally!

Never compare yourself with others and never feel like you’re “competing with” others.